Over the Sea

CJ's Notebooks #1

by Sherwood Smith

When Sherwood Smith was eight years old, a girl named Clair walked into her dreams, bringing hints of a world where girls could adventure, live on their own, and best of all, didn't have to grow up. Clair traveled about looking for girls who needed a home. She even came to Earth, where she found CJ, who did not fit. CJ found herself not only taken to another world to live, but she became the princess -- Clair's "left hand splat." One of her jobs as princess was to write down their records. Another was to serve as leader for the girls when Clair was busy learning to become queen. The girls had jobs too, as they discovered villains who thought it their business to take a kingdom away from a mere girl. From the shadowy Kwenz, a powerful mage with a very wicked past, to the usurper Glotulae and her son Prince Jonnicake, who in their ridiculous way were just as determined to boot Clair out, there were plenty of chances for adventure. And mystery, like why did kids from other times and worlds show up every now and then?

These are the early stories -- how Clair found her gang of girls, and how "the M girls" developed the fine art of the Duel to the Pie.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Childrens, Adventure, Fiction

260 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2007

About the author

I am a writer,( Patreon here) but I'm on Goodreads to talk about books, as I've been a passionate reader as long as I've been a writer--since early childhood.

I'm not going to rate books--there are too many variables. I'd rather talk about the reading experience. My 'reviews' of my books are confined to the writing process.

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Senrid, I think this story will appeal more to tweens and teens than adults. The kid heroes deal with their problems in very kid ways. The characters found clever ways to beat back the bad guys without using deadly force, which was fun.

Incidentally, we learn in this book how to pronounce many of the unpronounceable names also used in Senrid, but I wouldn't say reading Over the Sea otherwise made understanding Senrid easier.

This book is less polished than Crown Duel, but the writing is good and the story is much easier to follow than in Senrid. The pacing was good, the world building was very good, and the characters were very fun and interesting.

Incidentally, this book is really a series of sequential short stories about the adventures of the same characters (like a TV series) rather than a traditional novel. It's not problem, just an observation.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad I read the intro and knew going into this that these were stories the author wrote when she was a girl. They are not as spectacular as many of her stories written as an adult, and are decidedly anti-adults (adults cannot be trusted to rule or for advice!), but mostly they are cute stories about a group of girls in an alternate world trying to maintain order in a magical kingdom without resorting to violence. It does sound like a world a kid growing up in LA frustrated with the adults and pollution around her would have written.
I'm not going to be pining away till I find the next one in this series, but I wouldn't be opposed to reading it.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. It helped to start with the author's preface, where she explains that the book is based on stories she wrote as a child - brought back memories of all the daydreams I used to have.

[Sherwood Smith]

I wrote these stories when a kid. When I rewrote them, I tried hard to preserve that kid voice.

[Erin DeLaney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this as part of a Sherwood Smith BINGE. It was written by her when she was a child and it preserves the child voice. Collected stories of a group of girls set in the same world as her other stories, who have decided to magically stop growing. (It reminded me of Peter Pan a bit.) I enjoyed the world building aspects and it was cute but not particularly engaging for me. Would definitely appeal more to younger readers!

[Kathi Olsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considered an "older youth" fantasy book I actually accidentally loaded it onto my kindle from our library. It starts out about a young girl who is living an uncomfortable life and gets magically transported to another world where there are other girls and they work together to save their world from evil influences. I can see that it could help girls learn that you can work together to accomplish things.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

CJ (not her original name, more on that later), is stuck in 1960's LA, and she hates it. She's not close to her family, doesn't like her school, doesn't have friends, doesn't like the weather or the climate; she just doesn't seem to fit. One night she dreams of a girl called Clair and the fabulous world she lives in and CJ wishes she could be there. Not to long after her dream, Clair appears in CJ's world, tells her a little about her own world (which is far from perfect, but does have magic) and takes CJ on a short visit. Eventually, CJ gets the option to become a permanent part of Clair's world (even becoming a princess!) and happily accepts after making sure her family won't get in trouble by her disappearance. The rest of the story are Clair, CJ (the name she chooses when she becomes part of Clair's world) and the gang of girls Clair has gathered's adventures trying to thwart usurpers and black mages' schemes.

Although the alternate world and characters are fun and pretty clever, I really got tired of CJ's anger and distrust of adults. The worst being the no one tries to remedy it and it's to the point of, if it were a race of people instead of an age, she would be joining a crazy hate group. Yeah, it's bad. Yes, there are some rotten adults in both of the worlds, but there are also some rotten kids and blaming it on the adults in their lives isn't being honest, as you always have a choice. (And there are also some great adults in Clair's world, but they are mostly ignored.) So if I were going to suggest this book, it would be as a group read (parent with kid) so that they could talk about how CJ and her parents and the adults in her life could have worked out things instead of them just piling up.

Content notes: CJ and the girls make up some swear words, but no actual bad language is used (though they also taunt and call other people names). No sensuality issues, a Prince does propose to one of the girls, but she makes him regret it with tickle torture. Violence is typically magic-type with pies and mud being the weapons of choice. Though the girls do get captured and in peril of beating or death, they are saved from severe consequences.

[Barbara Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered Sherwood Smith relatively recently, starting with Lhind the Thief in the Light in the Darkness boxed set. I have been searching out all I can since, and enjoying all of it. The thing is, as is obvious on even a cursory perusal, some of the books are very much for children, and some very definitely for adults (I wouldn't stop my children reading the Inda series, but neither would I fancy explaining some of it to them!), but they tend to interconnect at various points, so for a complete picture, you need to read the lot. So.
This is one of the children's books, and so it eschews sex, violence and hard practicalities (though, admittedly, some of those things do lurk in the background). The word for this book is, I think, ebullient. It bubbles over with fun and good cheer. The plot meanders, the characters are, well, unformed in the way children are, and the writing is full of the joy of made-up words and insults, but there are good insights and solid writing. In short, this book is a lot of fun.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Sherwood Smith's work. This one was just a bit juvenile for me (especially after recently finishing the Inda series).


6/9/22
Okay, I decided to give the CJ notebooks another go since I’ve been reading later series with the MH girls in them. It was better a second time around probably because I expected the juvenile nature of the work. They definitely feel like earlier works as there is a lot more random people coming over from Earth, names and places are fairly silly, and the girls’ antics have more focus than the politics. That said, my eight-year-old son read this and thoroughly enjoyed it. He laughed a bunch while reading.

[Brittney Bower · Rating 4 out of 5]

love stories like this were it takes you to a world far from earth.

[Diana Murillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun!

I'm a fan of Sherwood Smith's books and truly enjoyed reading these tales. I look forward to more adventures of girls who are more capable than they seem.